Dark Ghost Apprentice
by 4fireking
Summary: Commission from madgamer 456. This story has Will finding out Alyss is pregnant. What do you do when the woman you love is pregnant? When you save a little girl from danger. When her brother shows up looking for his sister? You make that boy your new apprentice. The boy will learn everything Will was taught but this boy is harder to teach than Will. A adventure story not very long.
1. Chapter 1

**Commission for this story comes from madgamer456. This was originally suppose to be a one chapter story, I think. All I know is I need time to work on it and change things on it. That was an earlier message. Now the chapters are edited.**

XXX

Will nocked his bow.

It had been three days since he first started tracking this bandit and he missed Alyss. A little irrational, perhaps - he'd been away for much longer stretches of time - but this wasn't supposed to be a long stretch of time.

He pulled the drawstring back and released.

The arrow slammed into the bandits chest.

The bandit dropped, dead before he hit the ground. Will took the corpse and slung it across the saddle before climbing up behind it, moving automatically, half-lost in memories before he shook them off angrily.

It had been almost a year ever since Alyss came back to him. He lost her in a fire, but she came his rescue. He remembered it all very clearly. It was impossible to forget, really.

He was on his way back to Baron Arald to give his report when he heard the sobbing.

Slipping out of the saddle and dropping Tug's reins to the ground, Will tore off towards the sound and was about to yell, before he stopped himself. If he had to rescue someone, he didn't want to advertise his presence. Silently, he apologized to Tug for not loosening the saddle, but he might need to make a quick exit - and he wouldn't be gone for long anyway.

Dropping into a crouch, he pulled his hood over his face, sinking back into the shadows as he glided silently towards the sound until he came upon a small clearing. A young girl was crouched over two still figures, both adults. Her parents, Will realized. Four men - outlaws by their garb, bandits by their weapons - were closing in on her. One raised a studded club, about to smash her head in. A grey arrow sprouted from his skull.

The three remaining bandits panicked and fled, but they didn't get far before Will shot them down as well.

The girl kept sobbing in terror as Will crouched in front of her. Assuming she was afraid of the Ranger in front of her, he lowered his hood and smiled reassuringly. "I won't hurt you, I promise," he said soothingly. She kept crying.

"My name's Will. What's yours?" He continued. But the girl kept crying in fear.

Almost too late, Will realized she wasn't afraid of him, but something behind him. A horribly familiar scream rang out over the forest. Fighting back the onslaught of memories - Baron Arald falling, Halt bleeding from the leg, Sir Rodney struck still by the Kalkara -

Pushing the memories away, Will lifted the girl in his arms and raced for Tug, slinging her into the saddle before he swung up behind her. He signaled Tug to gallop and the little horse shot off, needing no further encouragement.

The girl had stopped crying - which was a good thing - but she had passed out, and Will worried. He didn't see any blood, but there were other ways to hurt a person.

"Tug, we need to get to Redmont," he muttered through teeth clenched tight with tension. Briefly, he considered shooting, at the Kalkara - he could hear it crashing through the bushes behind him, then dismissed the idea, as turning around would be required and was highly inadvisable when dealing with Kalkara.

Tug, sensing his master's urgency, poured on the speed.

A flaming arrow slammed into the Kalkara, lighting it on fire and turning it into so much charred body and smoking ash. Will's head whipped around to the spot the arrow had originated from.

Halt stepped out of the woods, eyed the Kalkara, and shot it with the already-nocked fiery arrow once more for good measure before turning around. "You alright, Will?" He asked shortly, a raised eyebrow asking the question of the little girl.

"I'm fine, but I may need some new trousers," he said, smiling a little shakily before he glanced down at the girl. "She was attacked by bandits. Her parents were already dead."

Halt nodded once, then turned Abelard back towards home. "Then let's get her back to Redmont."

They were in the Baron's office an hour later.

"This is the bandit we were tracking. He might have been associated with - or belonged to - the larger group I ran into later," Will informed him, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

Then the Baron personally took the little girl and her parents to the medic.

"Good timing with the rescue, Halt." Will said.

Halt gave what passed for a smile as Will reclaimed Tug from the Redmont stableboy and trotted down towards the cabin.

"So that was mildly exciting," Will remarked as he pushed open the door.

"You'll have to tell me about it later," Alyss laughed quietly, kissing Will on the cheek as she breezed through the room. "Why don't we go for a walk?" She offered, nearly dragging Will out the door. Will, recognizing a cover when he saw one, didn't protest.

Once they were a fair distance away from the cabin, Will took a deep breath and faced his wife. "What's going on, Alyss?"

Alyss looked nervous, fidgeting with her collar, eyes darting to and fro. Alarm bells began to go off in Will's head.

"Alyss..." he said slowly, hoping to coax it out of her.

"Impregnant." Alyss blurted out.

Will's jaw dropped open in shock.

"How - how long have you known?" Will asked.

"Just after you left to catch the bandit." Alyss answered.

"So...two weeks." Will asked.

"Slippy little weasel, was he?"

"Not half as slipper as you."

"Will!"

XXX

Will knew all kinds of things. He knew how to fire an arrow to pierce through even the  
strongest armor. He knew how to riding a horse. How to outsmart an opponent that outnumbered him twenty to one.

Raising a baby was something they never taught you. It's something you can never  
be prepared for. There were many questions Will asked himself while processing  
this information. First was how were they going to fed the baby? Will would have  
to do the hunting and Alyss would take care of the baby. He didn't know what to  
feed the baby. Could the baby eat chicken or bread? When would be a good time to  
feed it milk?

Would the baby even look at him as a father when he or she was older?

He was looking at Alyss, holding her hand, with so many questions he forgot to  
ask the people around him.

"So who knows?" Will asked.

"So far, just Lady Pauline. And by extension, probably Halt."

Will nodded, then looked uncertainly at his wife.

Alyss smiled reassuringly at him and patted his hand. "Don't worry. I'll tell who needs to be told."

XXX

They were almost back at the cabin when the messenger knocked on the front door.

"Something the matter?" Will called out, automatically taking the lead, drawing the attention away from Alyss.

The boy turned, flustered. "Oh - er - Ranger, sir - there's a boy up at the castle. 'e wants to speak to you." He  
mumbled. Will smiled gently. "Thank you - ?"

"Walt, sir. Walt Champen." The boy stammered, before fleeing.

XXX

Twenty minutes later, Will knew that the boy's name was Gunter, and he was the little girl's (Sienna's) brother. He was fifteen. And he was traveling with a midget.

"So, do you know where they were going?" Will asked.

"Sie and my parents were on their way to Redmont." The midget answered. "Ranger, if you could take us to the heal-"

A cluster of arrows chose that particular moment to soar through the window, halting all speech.

Gunter and Will reacted at the same time. Will jumped sideways, out of the path of one arrow, and parried a second with his saxe. Gunter had chosen a similar tactic, cutting the third arrow in half. The midget carefully peeled himself off the floor.

Will aimed four shots out the window. Four traitorous bowmen fell with arrows embedded in their legs.

Then Will turned to Gunter and the midget. "Are you all ri - Gunter!" Will asked.

Gunter looked down at his torso, dully noting that there seemed to be an arrow sticking out of his side before blacking out completely.


	2. Chapter 2

When Gunter opened his eyes, he was looking up at Will fussing over a very pretty woman in her mid to late twenties holding a baby that couldn't have been more than a week old.

"Where am I?" Gunter asked. Well, he meant to ask. It came out as more of a "Wh' am?"

One side of Will's mouth quirked up in a smile as he looked in the boy's direction. "Nice to see you up. We just dropped by to see how you were doing. And to answer your question, you're in the healing wards of Castle Redmont, seeing as we didn't exactly have anywhere else to send you.

"Dear. Babbling." The woman chided gently.

"Sorry." Will offered her an ashamed grin before glancing between the two. "Oh - Gunter, this is my wife, Alyss. And my son, Leon." He added, with no small amount of pride.

"'ello." Gunter managed.

"It's nice to meet you in person, Gunter." Alyss said politely, smiling.

"How long was I unconscious?" Gunter asked.

"...roughly eight months" Will admitted.

"EIGHT MONTHS?!" Gunter yelped, managing to unstick his voice box long enough to express his incredulity.

"Eight months." Alyss confirmed.

Gunter shook his head in utter confusion. That made...no sense. Eight months unconscious? How was that even...possible?

XXX

Three weeks later, Gunter was making a speedy recovery. The muscle atrophy that had affected him for the past eight months was being quickly turned around with the help of Will's strict regimen of exercise.

Alyss had discovered that Leon slept excellently in the vicinity of his father's supply of coffee beans. Will had joked once that he was already halfway a Ranger. Alyss, still not quite recovered from the panic attack she'd had when Leon had gotten into the coffee beans, didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

Today, she was letting him sleep in the next room while she took care of some of the paperwork for Lady Pauline when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called. Neither Tug nor Abelard had sounded any kind of warning, and Ebony was still dozing at her feet, so she felt safe doing so.

Cassandra and Horace's six-year-old daughter and heir to the throne of Araluen, Madelyn Altman waltzed in, dirt smudged on her face and her hair an absolute mess.

Alyss merely sighed. "Maddie..." she started.

"I know, I know," Maddie grumbled. "I'll wash up before I go up to the castle."

Alyss, knowing that was the best she would get, let the matter lie.

Maddie glanced around. "Where's Will?" She asked, leaving her mud-caked boots at the door.

"There's been a rash of petty thefts over the last week. Will's investigating in the village." Alyss explained, disappearing momentarily into the next room to pick up Leon.

"But I just came from there and I didn't see...oh. That would be the point, wouldn't it?" Maddie finished sheepishly.

Alyss laughed softly as she reappeared, cradling Leon in her arms. "Rather," she agreed. "Have a seat, no need to stand around!" She added, gesturing to the small couch. Maddie flopped down rather dramatically, then jumped back up with equal vigor, yelping. Alyss raised the Redmont Eyebrow.

"Something poked me," Maddie explained, sounding mildly indignant. Alyss rolled her eyes as Maddie pulled a small container out of the sofa cushion.

"Is this yours?" She asked, sounding puzzled. Alyss leaned forward to examine it before shaking her head.

"No. I've never seen anything like it before." She confessed.

"There's something in it..." Maddie said, struggling to pry the lid off for a few seconds before it finally yielded.

"It's a piece of paper," she reported, fishing it out of the small tin and reading it. As she finished the note, her face grew ashen.

"Maddie? Maddie, what is it?" Alyss asked urgently, alarmed. Wordlessly, Maddie held out the piece of paper to her. Alyss took it and scanned it. By the end, her face was the same color gray as Maddie's.

/We have put a price on Ranger Halt's life. The price is 60,000 silver royals./

Alyss looked up slowly, mind racing with a thousand questions.

"Maddie, take this note and run to the castle. Give it to your parents and nobody else. Do you understand me?"

"Is Halt going to be okay?" She whispered, sounding terrified.

"Go!" Alyss snapped.

Maddie fled, the tiny, incredibly important slip of paper clutched in her fist.


End file.
